Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis and President Obama

Related Links:

President Obama appeared today on Zach Galifianakis' cringe humor web series 'Between Two Ferns' to trade awkward insults, and more importantly, promote the Affordable Care Act. Watch the full clip below:

Last summer, according to the New York Times, the executive producer of Between Two Ferns, the absurdist faux-cable-access talk show hosted by Zach Galifianakis, “approached the White House with the idea” that President Obama appear on the show to promote the Affordable Care Act.

Rather surprisingly, the president went for it. Even more surprisingly, the result, which was released this morning and which you can watch above, works pretty well not only as a pitch for healthcare.gov, which gets an extensive plug, but also as an episode of Between Two Ferns.

President Obama's staffers have said the goal of his unconventional appearance on Between Two Ferns was to boost HealthCare.gov visits ahead of the March 31st cutoff for 2014 coverage. And the strategy appears to be working. According to Tara McGuiness, a senior communications advisor at the White House, Funny Or Die is now the leading source of referrals to HealthCare.gov.